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Critical Role's Matthew Mercer Plays D&D with Stephen Colbert in Charity Video
posted on by Lynzee Loveridge
After the resounding success of Critical Role's Kickstarter campaign in March, its Dungeon Master and voice actor Matthew Mercer appeared alongside The Late Show host Stephen Colbert for a one-on-one Dungeons and Dragons session.
The game was for a good cause. The Critical Role team began soliciting donations on May 16 to raise funds for Red Nose Day. Founded by Comic Relief in 1985 in the U.K, the fundraising event made its way to the U.S. in 2015, according to NPR.
The Red Nose Day FAQ states"Through the power of entertainment, Red Nose Day raises money and awareness to keep children who need our help the most stay safe, healthy and educated in America and around the world."
Fans of the Critical Role showed their generosity, surpassing the original US$50,000 donation goal and heading towards the larger US$75,000 goal. As of this writing, the campaign has raised US$65,357.00. Contributors were able to pick Colbert's character class, his companion, the legendary weapon he seeks to obtain, and the campaign's villain.
Colbert is no newcomer to Dungeons and Dragons. He admitted he'd been out of the game since college but was "obsessed" with it as a teenager when he played the first edition of the tabletop RPG. For his campaign with Mercer, he was assigned a bard, and a bee companion (Colbert names the bee "Eric"). Colbert rounds out the character by choosing his race as half-elf.
You can watch the whole campaign via YouTube below.
The Critical Role Dungeons and Dragons Kickstarter raised over US$11 million to produce a 10-episode animated series based on the Vox Machina campaign. It's expected to debut in fall 2020 with dungeon master Matthew Mercer and players Ashley Johnson (Pike Trickfoot), Marisha Ray (Keyleth), Taliesin Jaffe (Percy), Travis Willingham (Grog Strongjaw), Sam Riegel (Scanlan Shorthalt), Laura Bailey (Vex'ahlia), and Liam O'Brien (Vax'ildan). Writer Jennifer Muro (Star Wars: Forces of Destiny, Spider-Man, Justice League: Action) scripted the initially planned single episode special with the cast.
